Help manage pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens after strike agreements with federal government Corona virus Vaccination – first for health workers, long-term care residents and staff, and finally for the general public. The Walmart and Samsung clubs are also preparing to roll out their pharmacies.
The first volume left Pfizer’s Michigan plant on Sunday.
However, there are discrepancies as to when the first dose will be Nursing home is provided for residents, Some of the most vulnerable to the virus.
On CBS News ‘Face the Nation’ Sunday, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azhar said that once the vaccines are available, they can be administered earlier this week.
But CBS News received two documents from Operation Warp Speed, the federal government’s vaccination program. They make it clear that vaccinations can only be given after “December 21” in a week.
Former FDA Commissioner Dr Scott Godlip recommended Sunday because Operation Warp Speed Nursing Home did not receive prior approval from residents or their families to get vaccinated.
“This is a very costly delay, and now there are 50,000 new infections in nursing homes every week, which could be more than that,” Godlip said.
More than 76,000 residents and nearly 1,200 employees have died in long-term care facilities since COVID-19.
Dr. Richard Pfeiffer is the head of Genesis, one of the largest nursing home operators in the United States.
“Vaccines can’t happen very quickly for a moment, not even for a day,” Pfeiffer told CBS News’ Errol Bornett.
Genesis has partnered with CVS to get nursing home residents and staff vaccinated at more than 300 facilities.
“CVS’s work supply chain. They ‘re going to make sure they get to where the vaccine needs to go,” Pfeiffer said. “They are going to bring in vaccinators and technicians.”
“We hope the vaccine material comes out unusually quickly,” Pfeiffer said.
Monsieur Slavy, chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed, told CBS This Morning on Monday that his team was confident the vaccine would be available to those in need.
“We have done rehearsals, testing, dummy distributions every step of the process to make sure we understand how it works,” Slavy said. “For example, we have also confirmed that the first 2.9 million doses of vaccines will be distributed in three days. If there are any changes, we have a chance to do them. Of course, you know, the unknown and the unpredictable may happen, but we are ready to deal with it as soon as we find it.”
His biggest concerns about vaccine release are keeping the volume cool and focusing on gaining public confidence.
“I think the biggest concern is the accidental loss of temperature control based on a cold chain – especially with the Pfizer vaccine,” Slavy said. “Obviously, my biggest concern with this move is the level of reluctance in the country. I hope we can change that.”
“By mid-March, we would have had enough vaccine levels to immunize at least 100 million Americans,” Slavy said. “By the end of May or mid-June, we would have produced enough vaccines to prevent the American population as a whole.”
Wes Wheeler, head of UPS Healthcare, said vaccines are better monitored to ensure delivery.
“We have a special label that has Bluetooth-enabled radio,” Wheeler told CBS This Morning’s Tony Togopil. “Every shipment of every vaccine from Pfizer will have one of these labels in that box. We know it at all our facilities in the country. On top of this, we’ve been tracking GPS locations … so imagine we have a lot of packages over the Christmas season, on average 25 million a day. Of course, vaccines flow through the same network, but we make them a priority. “
Although some people may find themselves using CVS and Walcreens to roll the vaccine quickly and efficiently, it can lead to problems if at least one doctor is careful.
Dr. Michael Wasman, immediate past president of the California Association of Long Term Care Medicine, said, “I can assure you that this will lead to bumps on the road.
“The federal government’s handing over of the distribution of these vaccines to CVS and Walcreen has not been well thought out,” Wassman said. “And we expect a lot of confusion in this process.”
Last week, Los Angeles County withdrew from the federal immunization program, advising nursing facilities to take over their own vaccine administration, a move Wassman encouraged.
“It really needs to be integrated at the facility level,” Wassman said.
For those wondering when the vaccine will be available, this first wave is focusing on leading health workers and clinics. For those who are not in that category, this will be a few more months.